GJHS Esports team aces competition

GREENSBURG – Award plaques were recently presented to the Greensburg Junior High School ESports team for snagging top honors in the state Indiana Middle School Esports State Championship held virtually in December.

In last year’s competition, the team placed second in the state for the same title.

Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games.

Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.

Although organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, these were largely between amateurs until the late 2000s when participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in these events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity.

By the 2010s, Esports was a significant factor in the video game industry with many game developers actively designing and providing funding for tournaments and other events.

The most common video game genres associated with Esports are multiplayer online battle arena, first-person shooter, fighting, cards, battle royale and real-time strategy games.

In 2010, it was estimated that the total audience of Esports would grow to 454 million viewers, with revenue increasing to more than $1 billion and China accounting for 35% of the global Esports revenue in 2020.

Despite viewership being approximately 85% male and 15% female, with a majority of viewers between the ages of 12 and 34, female gamers have also played professionally.

In a brave new electronic world, many colleges offer scholarships for Esports, and even the U.S. Army has a Rocket League team.

The GJHS students play in the Indiana Esports Network, the Esports equivalent of the IHSAA. Teams of three play, and the game matches are the best of five.

This year, the GJHS team bested the Indiana Digital Learning school, beating them 3-0. The GJHS Rocket Team is undefeated in 2023, beating schools from all over the state of Indiana.

There were 28 GJHS students involved in Rocket League this year for 2023.